The bigger picture part 2.5...DMs Anonymous

So, when last we left, I told you how players need to approach the game. That was...uh...right around here I think. Go check it out.

Let's start at the top with this post...and let's start by me shattering an illusion.

Many DMs see themselves as this...

Complex?! Hell no! It's simple!

And, if you think about it, it makes sense. You have ultimate power, you shape the world, you populate it...that means your God, right? No...you're this...

You see, the misunderstanding taking place is that the DM, at the table, is in an active role. On the contrary, one you sit down, you have to take on a passive role just like the NES. The game is loaded and the player picks up the control...at that point, you're supposed to act as nothing but the interface for the players. You are there for them to experience the world through. Remember, without a DM, there IS NO GAME because the players have no methodology to actually interact with the world.

Think about it...

What can the players do without the DM to validate action they take? At best, they can speak to one another...but they can't accomplish anything tangible in the world. They cannot shake, they cannot rattle, they cannot roll. It is this need for a DM that so many conflate with ultimate power. After all, this means the DM controls everything, right? No, the DM does not control the game any more than the NES system controls the game. Think about the controller...the controller of the video game system doesn't actually control the game. It is there as an interface for the PLAYER to make things happen in the game. Really, calling it a "controller" is a misnomer...it is just a convenient one.

Realize now that, without the players, no amount of design, effort or brilliance matters at all...it is the equivalent of a game console sitting, plugged in, turned on, with a game loaded...and no one to play it. The game cannot play itself. The NES cannot play the game.

That out of the way? We clear? You're not God. You're an interface.

Take the pill. It's good for you even if it's a bitter truth.

Embrace this fact. Embrace it and realize how empowering it is!

When one gives up worrying about being God they give up worrying about being infallible. It also lets you get rid of the insidious little game-killer called "intent". You see, the NES doesn't have any intent when you are playing it. It's only job is to run the game as flawlessly as it can. ALL that it need do is not crash, freeze or glitch.The game does not care if you play the game according to it's vision. It does not care if you use the flute to skip levels 2-4...

Seriously, try this shit in some games and the DM will flip his wig!

And why should it care? The player is playing and that is a win! Remember, you should not desire that the players do certain things...you should simply desire THAT the players DO THINGS. After all, if they're using my awesome advice (wink wink) they will be undertaking great, grandiose goals. They will not have to rely on you to spoon-feed them content. You will merely have to sit down, present the world...and then get out of their way so they can play.

This is, of course, where many DMs fail. They assume that the effort and work that they put in to create the games content, that complete authority, should continue when they sit down at the table. Guess what? Help me out with this one, Lex Luthor...

Ahhh the only good part of this film...

If you never take to heart anything else I put up on this blog that is okay...as long as you accept the fact that the act of DMing, when done correctly, is one of letting go of attachments. You have to be totally Zen Jedi with your material. Accept this: When you have created something and placed it into the world YOUR ROLE HAS ENDED. Let your players and their actions (or the dice) determine how and what happens after that. Will that require adjudication? Will it require logical deduction? Will it require knowing what people will do in given situations? Will it require being self-aware enough to realize when you should leave it up to the dice because you can't be fair? YES YES YES, a thousand times YES!

The hardest part of all of that though is letting go. You have to let go and allow what will happen to happen. It means you have to give up the joy of seeing intent acted upon and instead embrace the joy of seeing others acting upon their intent to interact with what you present. The DM must be the least selfish person at the table. They must be the person that wants to have the least attention on them. To many DMs that is a completely foreign concept. This...is the hard part...

Consider that a DM acts, first and foremost, as a referee and judge. Tell me, are the referees in football, basketball, soccer, wrestling or anything else...the center of attention? Do the cameras focus on the ref? Do the commentators speak of the referees constantly? Is the judge at a trial the center of attention? Is the jury focused entirely on the judge? Do the attorneys speak primarily to the judge? The answer to all of those questions is obviously no. With a DM is should be no different. You are not the center of attention...the GAME IS. As discussed previously, what moves the game? The players!

Learn from this duck!

You must be willing to fade into the background. The player does not think about the controller in their hands...the player does not consider the feelings or ambitions of the NES...the player does not care about these things nor should they. They are thinking about the content of the game...whether to attack...to flee...to choose to use an item. They discuss these options with other players...they debate...they argue. The NES shuts the hell up and lets them PLAY while doing it's best to make sure nothing goes wrong in the background.

The best part is, when you give up worrying about where the "story" will be twenty sessions from now, you free yourself up to make the game run as well as possible. You can make sure you know the rules. You can spend time fleshing out the players surroundings as they are NOW rather than as they must be in the future. After all, if you have no desires regarding the players actions there is no need for you to preordain what will happen. What will occur will occur.

Now, this post was originally supposed to be part 3 of this series...but I felt as if I needed to frame the mind-set a DM needs to have to succeed and to allow their players to thrive. Part 3 will be coming up soon.